30 August 2013

After the Blessing of the Animals and as part of the Fete Patronale, the
church is packed with the village faithful to celebrate the great Mass
of St. Barthelmy. During this ceremony, the villagers taken part in the
traditional ''offering of the golden apple.''

This tradition dates back to medieval times when noble knights brought
their offerings to the ecclesiastical authority. The ceremony has kept
its character as a religious symbol of the struggle between good and
evil, the crucifix and the sword representing the two social orders.
Later, it represented the giving of money to the poor of the village and
always the large possible apple was chosen. Nowadays studded with
euros! How times do change ... but how wonderful that these traditions
continue.

In medieval times two chickens were strung up by their feet, hung on a
stick and offered to the curé . Today, they are put into a string bag
and at the end of the ceremony returned to their owner, Jacqueline.